5 Quirkiest College Startups for College Students 2013

By Angela Son on June 13, 2013

Self-publishing sites such as Etsy or Kickstarter, which didn’t exist until a couple of years ago, are now a great tool for nurturing startup ideas.

Here I introduce five quirkiest college startups created by real problem solvers with entrepreneurship, creativity and innovation.

 

CoatChex
University of Indiana

“Nothing can be a bigger buzzkill for a bar patron than coming down off that great club vibe while waiting in line for 20 minutes afterward to pick up a coat,” Chris Ytuarte said in this month’s Bar Business Magazine.

CoatChex solves the problem of long wait at the coat check, in addition to losing a coat.

Derek Pacqué, an once angry bar-goer who lost his coat at a local bar, came up with a simple idea.  A 2011 graduate of University of Indiana’s Kelley School of Business, Pacqué founded CoatChex using iPads and smartphones to identify clients’ coats, faces, and phone numbers.  This guarantees a secure pickup without the need for a ticket stub, which often gets lost.  Initially started with a $500 budget, this simple business grabbed the attention of many, including an entrepreneur Mark Cuban on ABC’s Shark Tank, whose $200,000 offer for a 33 percent stake in the business was turned down by Pacqué.

 

Alcohoot
IDC Herzliya in Israel

Drunk driving is a rising issue.  Close to 30 people die due to accidents that involve intoxicated drivers every day in the United States.

Having witnessed a lot of their friends drunk drive when studying in the U.S., Ben Biron and Jonathan Ofir, 24, created the world’s first smartphone breathalyzer two days ago.  Alcohoot is a paradigm changing concept to use a breathalyzer, predominantly known as a police officer’s law-enforcement tool, as a prerequisite for developing responsible drinking habits.

A small breathalyzer device is hooked onto a smartphone and gauges the blood alcohol level using the height, weight, age and gender. In addition, users can call a taxi or find neighboring restaurants that are still open with the smartphone app.

 

Jama Cocoa Truffles
Johns Hopkins

“Chocolate truffles are the new latte to urban sophisticates.”

Jamasen Rodriguez, Owner of Jama Cocoa said in an interview with Inc..

Started at the communal kitchen of the dormitory at Johns Hopkins with three fellow undergrads, Rodriguez now produces truffles at a commercial dessert kitchen and provides over 5,000 truffles a month to restaurants and wine bars in Baltimore.

Rodriguez’s plans to differentiate his shop from other “pretentious” chocolate shops include sourcing local artist community to create micro-branded offline shops that manifest the culture of each city.

 

DoDrinks
University of St. Thomas in Minneapolis

Courtesy of Flickr.com

“What’s better than beer? Free beer.”

According to founder of DoDrinks, BreAnna Fisher, free beer is better than beer.  DoDrinks lets users to gift alcoholic or nonalcoholic beverages over the Internet.  The idea has been tested in three local restaurants in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, and signed a deal with Heineken to pilot test its products.

This 28-year-old Iraq War veteran and University of St. Thomas student has been selected as one of four finalists for the Global Student Entrepreneurship Awards.  According to an interview with Upstart, Fisher said the drink gifting data from DoDrinks is a potentially powerful marketing tool for beverage brands.

 

Condam
College of New Jersey in Ewing Township

The last Quirkiest College Startups idea is CondAm (Condom Ambulance).

Every weekend night from 7 p.m. to 3 a.m., Kyle McCabe, a sophomore at College of New Jersey, wears the business helmet with a flashing siren on his head and starts work as an emergency contraceptive service deliverer.  Although limited to a specific college campus, the Youtube advertisement for this startup has reached over 10,000 views and its Facebook page over 400 likes.  Students’ confidentiality is guaranteed and they can choose different types and flavors of condoms, including vegan condoms.

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